Advocacy group gives P.E.I. top marks in Canada for improving seniors’ vaccine access

Windwhistler
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Advocacy group gives P.E.I. top marks in Canada for improving seniors’ vaccine access

PEIGoing from a D- to an A+ in just two years — that’s the story of Prince Edward Island’s progress on vaccine access for seniors. The province recently came out on top in a national vaccine report card released by CanAge, a national advocacy organization.‘First-ever A+ we’ve ever given,’ says CanAge CEOThinh Nguyen · CBC News · Posted: Oct 16, 2025 9:37 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoP.E.I. has earned an A+ from CanAge for its significantly improved vaccine access for seniors. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)Going from a D- to an A+ in just two years — that’s the story of Prince Edward Island’s progress on vaccine access for seniors. The province recently came out on top in a national vaccine report card released by CanAge, a national advocacy organization.The group’s CEO, Laura Tamblyn Watts, said when CanAge evaluates all 13 provinces and territories on their efforts to vaccinate older adults, it considers various criteria. Those include whether people can get all vaccines recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization free of charge, and if vaccines are easily accessible without requiring prescriptions or multiple visits.“This year, P.E.I. led the pack with the first ever A+ we’ve ever given,” she told CBC’s Island Morning.Elsewhere in Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia placed second with an A-, followed by New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, which tied with Yukon for third place, each earning a B+.New programs drove improvementTamblyn Watts said one of the biggest changes this year on P.E.I. is the expansion of the free RSV vaccine program to include more seniors.“In addition, P.E.I., of course, has got that senior-specific flu vaccine,” she said. “They have now embraced the new conjugate pneumonia vaccine that was available last year as well, but continues this year, and of course it led the way in Canada with shingles [vaccines].”Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge, says while P.E.I. has surpassed all other regions for its commitment to adult vaccination, vaccine uptake for pneumonia and shingles needs improvement. (Tina MacKenzie/CBC)Tamblyn Watts also noted that COVID-19 vaccines remain free for all Islanders, unlike in Quebec and Alberta where universal free access to the shots ended this fall.“What we’ve really seen here is that P.E.I. has taken adult vaccination quite seriously.”She added that the province’s launch of a digital health record portal marks a major step toward modernizing health care, and this will help Islanders easily get access to information about their health.Room for improvementDespite the progress, there are still areas where P.E.I. can do better.According to CanAge’s data, P.E.I. has some of the highest percentages of seniors getting their flu shot in the country at 70 per cent, but uptake for the pneumococcal vaccine is lagging at just 45 per cent.“I think a lot of people don’t even realize that there is, in fact, a vaccine for pneumonia,” Tamblyn Watts said.She said P.E.I. has been stepping up public education over the past two years to raise awareness.“One of the areas that they need to focus is to tell people, you know, there is community-acquired pneumonia, you can get a vaccine for that. It’s very serious,” she said.“If you’re hospitalized with pneumonia, it’s about eight to 10 days in hospital on average, and that’s actually less than the influenza, which is usually about 10 to 14 days…. People die of pneumonia more often.”Tamblyn Watts said uptake of the shingles vaccine, available for free to Islanders aged 50 and over, remains at 38 per cent, and that number needs to improve.Another area where P.E.I. could do better, Tamblyn Watts said, is improving vaccine uptake in marginalized and equity-deserving communities, including Indigenous populations. That involves providing trusted information about vaccines to those communities.With files from Island Morning

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